OnePlus Z release leaked as 8 Pro camera beats S20, iPhone 11

A tip this week on the latest low-cost OnePlus device tips the release date no later than mid-July, 2020. The OnePlus Z, as it's called, was reported to be shown for the first time to the public on July 10, 2020. The only unfortunate bit about this leak of an exact date for reveal is the location – it'll likely be limited to India at first launch. The release date for the rest of the world is still up in the air.

The OnePlus Z is rumored to appear at a July 10th event by a source speaking with Android Central. OnePlus will reveal the OnePlus Z in India on July 10th, complete with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G system-on-chip, and a near full-frontside display panel with a punch hole for it's front-facing camera, according to a series of leaks appearing over the past few weeks.

SEE TOO: Our full OnePlus 8 Pro Review

The OnePlus Z is meant to be the OnePlus answer to calls to return to their roots – the first few OnePlus devices, which all launched for surprisingly low prices. Now might be prime-time for an event at which a device with a price between $330 and $400 could thrive.

Would you purchase a OnePlus Z with a 6.55-inch 90Hz AMOLED display, a punch-hole front-facing camera, and a set of three cameras at it's back (48MP, 16MP wide-angle, 2MP macro), all for several hundred dollars less than the basic OnePlus 8?

Meanwhile the otherwise newest OnePlus device, the OnePlus 8 Pro, just took the 10th-place DxOMark best camera score slot from Samsung Galaxy S20, who in turn took the place of the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The DxOMark top 10 isn't the end-all be-all guide for best cameras on smartphones in the world – but it's certainly close. In this case, it shows how even the most-advertised, most-popular, best-selling phones in the world can be beaten in the smartphone camera universe when judged by an impartial third-party group.

The OnePlus Z won't likely have the exact same camera setup as the OnePlus 8 Pro, but each time OnePlus releases a new smartphone, they benefit from the work done on their camera software for all the OnePlus smartphones they've already released. In effect: This OnePlus Z might not have as impressive a set of camera sensors and/or lenses as the OnePlus 8 Pro, but it'll bring the same higher-than-ever baseline to the camera experience.